Four years ago my son was born. Arriving right on time in the midst of a swirl of activity. My teacher.

I have learned more about myself, life, and present moment awareness from him than any spiritual master that I have encountered. He is wholly in the present moment. Even now, as he begins to learn the distinction between past, future and present, he still spends his time living from NOW.

Children are a mirror. You see yourself and all your merits and foibles reflected back. Every careless word is faithfully repeated with the same tone and vigor that you delivered them. Did you really mean to say that about the guy who cut you off in traffic? The recorder is always on.

Kids push you to and through and past your limits. They teach patience and priorities. They teach mental and emotional discipline. They teach responsibility and commitment with every tender newborn breath.

Most of all… They teach you love. The love that a parent has for a child is unparalleled. It may partly be an indelible genetic drive to care for offspring, but it is deeper than the superficialities. They pull out all the good in you, they peer in all the shadows, they deconstruct the anatomy of your soul. And after a careful examination, they love all of it. They adore. You learn through their thoughtful gaze what true unconditional love is about.

The key to parenting is to learn to always see them in the same way they see you, with full, direct, unflinching unconditional love.